Oredson-Todd Woods & Siskiyou Mountain Park

A park for everyone

The Oredson-Todd Woods and adjoining Siskiyou Mountain Park are city-owned, dog-friendly parks on the south edge of Ashland. Both are designated as public, natural areas for hiking and biking (on selected trails). The forested canyon and beautiful waterfall along Clay Creek provide a wonderful natural area immediately outside town. These two parks contain seven miles of public trails which connect to a larger trail system on the slopes above Ashland, including the popular White Rabbit Trail.

History

In September 1983, Mountain Ranch Development Company, a partnership between developers Vincent Oredson and John D. Todd, donated 10 acres of land adjacent to their new subdivision to the Southern Oregon Land Conservancy. The Oredson-Todd Woods was designated to be a natural area for public use. Several years later, SOLC donated the Woods to the City of Ashland, where it was joined with other city-owned land to make up these two forested parks, comprised of 300 acres and used by hundreds of outdoor enthusiasts today. Both properties are permanently protected with conservation easements that specify similar restrictions as the ones outlined by Vincent Oredson and John Todd in 1983.

Upcoming

The next meeting of this book club will be on Tuesday, March 6, at 6:30 pm. We will be meeting at a private home in Ashland for a discussion of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

News blog

This month we are highlighting two conserved public-access properties located in Ashland, Ore. We are grateful to the City of Ashland, the Ashland Woodland & Trails Association, and the countless volunteers who help maintain these incredible natural gems. We hope you enjoy this month’s “hike” down memory lane

With a tuft of evergreen basal leaves and seasonal flowering stalks, native perennial bunchgrasses provide a host of ecological services. Read Kristi's article about this iconic species, the critters that depend on it and the challenges bunchgrasses face.

Read volunteer documentarian, Crystal Nichols's, full blog post with videos highlighting the intriguing and significant life of coho salmon, its threats and how stream-side landowners can help these "living boomerangs".